Apple Spice Bundt Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

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Once again, my love affair with browned butter continues. I just can’t help myself. Browning butter fills me up like few things can. And, yes, I realize how sick that sounds. But it’s the truth. Browned butter and bacon take me to my happy place. What can I say?

My two favorite recipes to bake with browned butter are banana cake and these blondies. Today I’m not baking with the browned butter but using it in an icing that gets poured over a still warm apple cake.

Be still my beating heart.

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And we can we just take a minute and give a little shout out to the bundt cake? I honestly think the bundt pan is nothing short of genius. It allows bakers who might be a little handicapped in the decorative department (*ahem*) make stunning desserts. And, they are just so darn easy.

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The Mr wanted apple pie a few weeks back and not wanting to disappoint him but also not up to making a pie from scratch I settled on this cake. Aside from peeling and dicing the apples, the cake was super quick and easy to put together. Unlike my husband who was happy with one piece after dinner, I ate the cake over the course of three or four days. Literally. As you can see in the second picture, I sort of demolished it. A little bite here, a little bite there………and for what it’s worth, I think the cake was at its best on day two. Eaten for breakfast with a cup of coffee. ‘Cause that’s how we I do things around here.

Apple Bundt Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

For the Cake:

  • 3 cups peeled, diced apples
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • zest of one orange

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. In a medium size bowl, sift together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; set aside. In a small bowl toss apples, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and lemon juice; set aside. In a large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat together both sugars and oil. Add one egg at a time incorporating each one thoroughly. Mix in vanilla extract, apple cider and orange zest. Slowly stir in flour mixture into wet batter stirring just to combine. Fold in apples and any juices that have accumulated. Pour batter into a prepared 12-cup bundt pan. Bake in preheated oven on the middle shelf for 55-60 minutes or until cake is done. Remove from oven and let cool in pan on baking rack for 10 minutes before turning out of pan. While cake cools, prepare frosting.

For the Icing:

  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
  • 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3-4 tablespoons milk

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until light brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour butter into a bowl. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons milk; stir until smooth. If the icing is too thick, add the remaining tablespoon milk, a little at a time, until consistency is spreadable. Let cool 5 minutes. Then use immediately and pour over warm cake. Frosting will harden as cake cools.